Goosefeather's Curse/Chapter 2
Chapter description :Goosekit is crouching in the grass, not even daring to breathe, sensing pawsteps. He hears a growl, noting that a mystery cat is saying they know that he is in the grass. The young tom buries himself further into the ferns but the fronds rustle as Poppykit jumps out in front of him, declaring that she has found him. She says he picked a good hiding spot as the scent of Cloudberry's herbs masked his scent very well. Goosekit follows her out of the ferns, the old medicine cat calling for them to stop playing there, as she doesn't want the ferns flattened. Poppykit rolls her eyes, calling Cloudberry a group and saying that she begs she never played when she was a kit. :Heronkit calls to Poppykit and Goosekit from the half-tree near the apprentices' den. Moonkit jumps down from the stump, telling her brother it's his turn to look for them. Goosekit stands at the base of the half-tree with his eyes closed, flexing his toes and letting the tips of his claws brush the ground. After all his claws test the ground he opens his eyes and turns around, finding the clearing empty save for Fallowsong, who is rolling a ball of soiled bedding out of the nursery. She purrs that the kits seemed determined to find the best hiding places, and wishes him luck. Goosekit runs into the nursery to look for his denmates, thinking about how excited he is to start his training in two moons. He also thinks about how he does not want to be trained by Stormpaw, and that he wants to learn from Rooktail and Doestar. :Goosekit is unable to find any of his denmates in the nursery, and leaves to look elsewhere. He catches a whiff of something behind Doestar's den, and finds Rabbitkit and Poppykit. They blink curiously, Rabbitkit mewing that they thought he'd never find them here. Goosekit replies that he heard them moving around and Poppykit scowls that that was Rabbitkit, who apparently sat on a nettle. Goosekit twitches his tail and tells the kits to wait by the half-tree while he finds Moonkit and Heronkit. :He looks around the clearing, but his attention is caught by a black-and-white tom who asks if he's looking for two kits. He tells Goosekit that Heronkit went into the elders' den while Moonkit went into the ferns by Cloudberry's den. His fur spikes, thinking about how they will be in trouble if the old medicine cat finds them in the ferns again. He thanks the young tom and goes to look for the kits. He almost falls over Heronkit as he goes into the elders' den, the dark brown kit protesting. Goosekit apologizes and tells Heronkit to meet the other kits by the half-tree so he can find Moonkit. He leaves the elders' den and heads over to Cloudberry's, looking for signs of his sister among the ferns. He follows a trail of tiny pawprints and bent fronds to find Moonkit, causing her to hiss in annoyance. Goosekit tells her to hurry before Cloudberry sees them, making it out just in time, as a few seconds later the old medicine cat pokes her head out and wonders if Swiftpaw is back. :Moonkit wails that she can't believe Goosekit found her too quickly, Heronkit meowing that he found all of them too quickly, accusing him of cheating. Goosekit protests, but the other kits agree with Heronkit, Poppykit saying she doesn't want to play with him anymore. Heronkit deliberately turns away from Goosekit and tells the kits they're going to play another game without him. Moonkit shoots him an apologetic look, but Goosekit just flattens his ears and tells them that he doesn't want to play with them anyway before stomping towards the nursery. He wonders if he can find an elder to tell him a story about TigerClan and LeopardClan. :A patrol returns, Goosekit watching them run in. Cloudberry exits her den to ask Windflight if all is well on the borders. He tells her that Twolegplace is as quiet as Fourtrees at new moon now that they have chased out some non-Clan cats. He looks around the camp, asking if Swiftpaw is back, as he wanted to take her out for some battle training with Harepounce and Adderpaw. Cloudberry narrows her eyes, having assumed she had joined the patrol as she hasn't seen her since she left. Flashnose steps forward and worriedly asks if they are talking about Swiftpaw and if something is the matter. Windflight mews that everything is fine and Swiftpaw is just taking longer than expected to find herbs. Flashnose turns in a tight circle, freezing about Swiftpaw's safety, Windflight trying his best to settle her down by telling her Swiftpaw is almost a warrior now and is smart enough to take care of herself, just like her mother. Flashnose refuses to be comforted, worrying that she may have even have come across a fox, and they must find her. She asks if Doestar is back, but Cloudberry and tells her they were the first patrol to return. :A hunting patrol returns, dropping their prey onto the fresh kill pile as Flashnose calls to them, asking if they saw Swiftpaw in the forest. Daisytoe tells her they didn't. Windflight tries to say that he is sure the apprentice is fine, but Flashnose hisses that he can't be sure, and that Swiftpaw is too young to be out on her own. Rooktail comes to stand beside her, telling her that they will go back out to look for her, the other warriors nodding. Daisytoe urges the kits into the nursery, telling them to stay there until she gets back. Moonkit protests that they could help them look for Swiftpaw, but Daisytoe mews that it is bad enough that an apprentice is missing, and they'll be back soon. She leaves with the rest of the patrol as Rabbitkit, unimpressed, scratches at some dried moss and grumbles that they could have helped, and that he is nearly as big as the apprentices. Heronkit agrees, saying it'd be just like hide-and-seek, Rabbitkit adding that they wouldn't cheat as he glares at Goosekit. :Goosekit is not in the mood to defend himself, so he slips out of the nursery while the others start to play a game of spot the ant. The clearing is deserted except for Cloudberry and the black-and-white tom that had helped him find the others before. Goosekit trots over to him and asks if he is an apprentice, and he says that he is. Goosekit asks him why he isn't looking for Swiftpaw, pleading for him to go find her. The other cat looks unsure, mewing that he doesn't think he can go by himself. A long-tailed warrior pads past. and the black-and-white tom tells him an apprentice is missing. He stops and fixes his eyes on Goosekit, asking which apprentice is missing. He tells him about Swiftpaw, and gives him a brief description, and the dark brown warrior tells him she was just below Sunningrocks, in the reeds. Goosekit tries to call after him, but the sun is in his eyes and he is unable to tell where he goes. The patrols begin to return, Goosekit running over to them. He takes a deep breath and makes himself look as tall as possible before declaring that he knows where Swiftpaw is. Characters Major }} Minor *Heronkit *Rabbitkit *Moonkit *Cloudberry *Fallowsong *Unnamed black-and-white tom *Windflight *Flashnose *Daisytoe *Rooktail *Beetail (unnamed) }} Mentioned *Doestar *Swiftpaw *Harepounce *Adderpaw }} Notes and references Category:Chapter subpages Category:Novellas Category:Goosefeather's Curse